Chapter 6 Exploring Sarchí, Costa Rica........ Artisan Quint Town

Roger and I had heard about Sarchí, Costa Rica. So, we decided to find a bus that takes us there.

We took our usual bus to downtown San Jose, where we immediately got lost trying to find the exact spot for the bus to Sarchí. So, as we are standing on the street looking lost, a taxi driver asked if we needed his help. Predictable story, he says he will give us a discounted trip to Sarchí. So, we take the easy way out and get into the back seat of the taxi and off we go. When in doubt, make it easier for yourself.

Located on the slopes of Costa Rica’s Central Mountain Range at the eastern edge of the Central Valley, the quaint country town of Sarchí is 46 kilometers from the nation’s capital city of San Jose, or about an hour’s drive. Or in other words, an hour to practice my Spanish with the driver. To my amazement. I understood about 70% of his words. Another point, if you don’t understand, just say Si and smile, and you’ll be ok.

Original wheel from an antique cart:

Sarchí, is most well-known for the hand painted oxcart. Decorated in their entirety by hand, these oxcarts have become something of a national symbol for Costa Rica. Their initial use dates back to over a century ago. Back in the day, wooden carts pulled by a pair of oxen were the main mode of transportation in the mountainous country, especially to transport coffee beans to markets. Originally each region of Costa Rica had its own particular oxcart design, which identified a driver’s origin by the painted patterns on his cart’s wheels. The largest and oldest oxcart factory is also found in Sarchi. The Joaquin Chaverri Oxcart Factory was built in 1902, and is considered to be the birthplace of oxcart handicrafts in Costa Rica.

In the center of Sarchí, is a beautiful park with the “World’s Largest Oxcart” – built in 2006 to get the town’s name into The Guinness Book of World Records –the Central Park is in front of the main Catholic church

Largest Ox cart in the world

Besides the beautiful handicrafts, another reason to visit this charming town is for its unusual church that is painted pink and blue. Built in the 1950’s, this two-towered church sits on a hill overlooking the town. A small fact that I learned during my Spanish lessons is that the Catholic Church always faces East and West. The door to enter the church is at the West, and the alter is at the East end of the church. Umm, maybe I should have known that already, but oh well.

Besides the oxcarts Sarchí is well known for all of the handmade wooden furniture. Sarchí, Costa Rica is a busy place on weekends since many Ticos (anyone not native to Latin America, it is not a derogatory word as it is used in Mexico. It's a descriptive word without the negative connotations. visit to purchase home furnishings. So I am glad we made our trip on Wednesday. OK, Sarchí is a tourist trap with tons of over- priced souvenir shops.

Lots of souvenirs

But, it is so quaint that the trip is well worth the drive up the long winding roads which are often very narrow and are not marked clearly. The route to get to Sarchí passes through picturesque countryside and some of the largest coffee and sugarcane plantations in Costa Rica.

I had read very good reviews for Restaurant “La Finca”. To be honest we never would have found this place if we didn’t have a guide. It sits down a very narrow road which looks like a driveway. But when we got there, the owner was our waiter and he spoke English. He asked if we would like the house special, a grilled steak with vegetables. We closed the menus and said yes! The meal was huge and delicious. It’s worth the effort to find La Finca.

View from our table

One happy man

Costa Rica has 2 seasons the dry and the green. We are now in the green season which I will translate for you “rain”. Luckily we were eating until the rain and hail passed. Our ponchos would have done us NO good.

Side note to Costa Rica...you are putting way too much fruit in your pastries.

This one is pineapple, OMG so good.

So our lesson for today is everything works out the exact way it is supposed to…we never would have taken a taxi, but in retrospect, we never would have seen so much. It is not a walking town. Hills are steep and things are spread out.

Gracias a Julio tanto para llevarnos a Sarchi

Hand-made small ox carts for the home

The artist hand painting trays that were for sale

Here are links to my other chapters about moving to Costa Rica

Chapter 1
https://steemit.com/travel/@lindabasilick/moving-to-costa-rica-getting-your-life-into-6-bags-of-luggage

Chapter 2
https://steemit.com/travel/@lindabasilick/farmer-s-markets-in-costa-rica

Chapter 3
https://steemit.com/travel/@lindabasilick/chapter-3-costa-rica-how-to-figure-out-where-a-bus-goes-in-costa-rica-in-2-steps

Chapter 4
https://steemit.com/travel/@lindabasilick/chapter-4-costa-rica-san-jose-beautiful

Chapter 5
https://steemit.com/travel/@lindabasilick/chapter-5-american-expats-in-costa-rica-when-you-have-no-one-to-talk-to-are-you-forced-to-talk-to-your-husband